Trump Doubles Down on Netanyahu on Election Eve: "Finish the Job We Started"

Trump Doubles Down on Netanyahu on Election Eve: "Finish the Job We Started"

A second endorsement two days before the vote

U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday evening, October 25, urging Israelis to vote for "Bibi" in Tuesday's October 27 parliamentary election. "Vote for Bibi Netanyahu for Prime Minister, we have to finish the job that we started!" he wrote on Truth Social, re-attaching his October 18 endorsement and praising Netanyahu as "an outstanding Warrior Prime Minister."

The reported request behind the repeat endorsement

According to an Axios scoop published October 25, Netanyahu spoke with Trump twice in the previous three days and asked him to double down on last week's Truth Social endorsement, even suggesting language for additional statements of support. Israeli outlets including The Times of Israel and JNS framed the Sunday post as a direct response to that request.

Tying the endorsement to Iran

Trump's renewed message centered on the joint campaign against Iran. He cited Operation Midnight Hammer and Operation Epic Fury, claimed Iran now has "no navy, no air force," put Iran's inflation at 301%, said a naval blockade had kept Tehran from getting oil, and said two levels of Iranian leadership, "both military and otherwise," were gone. He also cited the Venezuela operation and wrote that chants of "Death to America, Death to Israel" must no longer be heard, referring to pro-regime rallies where Israel is called "The Little Satan" and the United States "The Big Satan."

The warning attached to the first endorsement

In his October 18 endorsement, Trump had gone further, warning that "if Israel has the wrong Leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so," while threatening to "soon finish the job" against Iran "unless they change their ways, rapidly." Netanyahu publicly thanked Trump, saying Israel "has never had a greater friend in the White House" and that together they would never let Iran obtain nuclear weapons.

Polls show a dead heat short of 61 seats

Poll averages cited by Israeli media put the pro-Netanyahu bloc and the opposition at roughly 51 seats each, short of the 61-seat Knesset majority. A Channel 12 poll of 507 adults, with a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points, found 64% of respondents said Trump's backing would not affect their vote, 12% said it strengthened support for Likud, and 17% said it made them less likely to vote Likud. The same pollster found opposition frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot preferred over Netanyahu as prime minister by 45% to 33%. Eisenkot said Israel is a democratic country where only Israelis choose their leader and said he had asked the administration not to intervene.

A denial about what was traded for the endorsement

Netanyahu told Channel 14's The Patriots that he did not offer Trump anything for the endorsement. Channel 13's Moriah Asraf reported that he had promised the administration to advance reconstruction in parts of Gaza despite the areas not being demilitarized, a claim the Prime Minister's Office disputed. Trump himself had told Newsmax that Netanyahu would like him to be involved, while adding, "I don't trust anybody in the world of politics." Earlier in October he told TIME, "I'm not involved in [Israeli] politics anymore."

What happens next

Voters decide on October 27. If neither bloc reaches 61 seats, Israel faces another coalition negotiation, and Trump's promise to "finish the job" will depend on who forms the next government and how Washington and Jerusalem coordinate on Iran.